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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #152118
Title: MELANIN IN THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX OF GERMLINGS OF BOTRYTIS CINEREA

Author
item DOSS, ROBERT - USDA ARS HCRU
item DEISENHOFER, JOACHIM - UNIV. AUGSBURG
item KRUG VON NIDDA, H.A. - UNIV. AUGSBURG
item SOELDNER, A.H. - OREGON STATE UNIV
item MCGUIRE, R.P. - USDA ARS HCRU

Submitted to: Phytochemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2003
Publication Date: 4/28/2003
Citation: Vol 63, pp 687-691

Interpretive Summary: Botrytis cinerea is an important fungal pathogen of plants. This paper reports that one component of the extracellular matrix (a sort of fungal glue) secreted by the fungus is a dark pigment called melanin. This could be important because it is felt that melanins are able to protect delicate biological structures from various environmental stresses such as ultraviolet light. It is possible that melanin protects Botrytis cinerea from such stresses, and that if melanin formation were prevented fungal survival would be reduced. This is the first report of a melanin in the 'glue' secreted by a fungus.

Technical Abstract: Previous work on the composition of the extracellular matrix of the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea demonstrated the presence of carbohydrate, protein, and simple lipids, which, together, comprised 50-60% of the dry weight. Here we show that most of the remaining mass of the extracellular matrix consists of a chemically inert dark pigment with the electron paramagnetic resonance characteristics of a melanin. Scanning electron micrographs of the purified pigment, and transmission electron micrographs of thin sections made using the pigment indicate that it has a filamentous structure. We conclude that melanin is an important component of the extracellular matrix of germlings of B. cinerea. This is the first report of a melanin present in the extracellular matrix of a plant pathogenic fungus.